爱思英语编者按：照镜子时总觉得自己不好看，鼻子不够高，眼睛不够大，嘴型也不够美？经常抱有这种心理的人其实是患有“想丑综合征”，好多自己严重的缺陷都是想象出来的。专业人士表示，这是一种心理障碍，得治。

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder; but so, alas, is its opposite. As a result, thousands of Americans — including a sizable fraction of those who have elective plastic surgery — may be suffering from delusions of “imagined ugliness (syndrome)，” an irrational dislike for all or part of one’s physical appearance, according to a report in The American Journal of Psychiatry.

情人眼里出西施，这句话反过来说，似乎也是对的。《美国精神病学杂志》刊登的一份报告显示，成千上万的美国人都饱受“想象丑陋(综合征)”错觉的困扰，其中有一部分人已经有选择地接受了整容手术。“想象丑陋”指对自己的全部或部分外表严重不满意的状态。

The condition, known as “body dismorphic disorder,” is characterized by obsession with an imagined flaw: An overly large nose, “devious-looking” eyebrows, or a “stretched” mouth are common examples. It can last for years, often accompanied by severe depression, suicidal behavior, social withdrawal, repeated visits to plastic surgeons and “frequent mirror checking”.

这种状况学名叫做“躯体变形障碍”，表现为过度关注自身想象出来的一些身体缺陷：鼻子太大、看似阴险的眉形或者外扩的嘴巴等都是常见的一些“想象丑陋”的例子。这种对自己外表的不满会持续数年，同时伴随严重的抑郁、自杀行为、孤僻行为、多次求助整形医生以及不停照镜子等行为。